To the Horizon
by Sol4rpleXus
Summary: After Pilot bugged him to the brink of insanity, Engie grudgingly agreed to build a flying machine for him. Snippy watches his doom manifesting as he is sent out with Pilot to test-fly it.
1. Engie's Masterpiece

**_Requested by Temarcia and test-read by Creepiest. ((You are both sweethearts, thanks for always being there for me. :))_**

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******Chapter 1: Engie's Masterpiece  
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It must have been a little over three months ago that Captain gave Engie the order to build a flying machine. Initially the Russian engineer objected to taking on such a seemingly impossible task, but finally agreed to after Pilot incessantly heckled him to the brink of insanity.

Doctor Gromov needed parts before he could begin constructing "the most glorious flying machine," as Captain put it, so all throughout the months that followed he requested the other two minions to fetch him various scraps to aid in the completion of his project. Every part on the list was successfully retrieved sooner or later, depending on how long it took to coerce reluctant Snippy into getting dragged along on a search.

Every time the sniper was told to go scavenge the wasteland with Pilot, he acted stubbornly. He was persistent in his refusal to cooperate, protesting that it would be yet another horrible idea. He even tried to talk Captain into reconsidering his orders, but to no avail. Captain wouldn't hear it. The only answer Snippy received was a stern "No!" and a splash of tea to his face for being a mutinous pest.

But what did the engineer have to say? Quite frankly, he more or less didn't care what the others would do with the machine once it was finished as long as he didn't have to fly it. Captain's threats to restrict his food and take away his magazines and liquors were what kept him going wee hours into the morning every day.

One night, Engie came barging through the door of their base, stumbled over a sleeping Snippy and dropped to the floor. He instantly fell asleep, completely ignoring the complaints of his furious comrade. As Snippy realized his words fell on deaf ears, he shrugged it off and concluded that the copper-eyed man must have been drunk or just so exhausted that he simply didn't give a damn anymore.

The next morning, the engineer awoke with the peculiar sensation of having forgotten about something important. He pondered for a moment and remembered that it was typical for such a feeling to occur when he had just finished a project, or even after packing some suitcases to go away on a trip. So he dismissed it as a result of over thinking and quickly ate his breakfast.

The sun had just dawned and Engie felt ready for the day. With a clear mind he confidently led the Captain to his private maintenance hangar to present his finished creation. An eager Pilot followed and a less enthused sniper trudged alongside him. Nonetheless all of them were equally curious to see Doctor Gromov's flying machine for the first time.

The moment Gromov swiped off the white blanket that was covering it, everyone marveled at the sight. It was a true masterpiece; an impressive work of art made of junk and spare parts. He even bothered to paint it in a deep, sea green color.

"You finished it! This is the best day of my life!" Pilot proclaimed joyfully before inspecting it from every possible angle in amazement.

"So... You say we'll get this thing up in the air? Is it safe?" Sniper asked skeptically.

"Ahm... well," Engie muttered, scratching his neck nervously. "We have fuel and the engines are all set, but the flying machine still needs to be tes-"

Before he could finish, Captain chimed in. "Oh Mr. Snippy, what's with these doubts? Of course it can fly! And you get the special honor of being the first to test it!"

"What?! You want that shoe to fly it?" Pilot bolted out from behind the flying machine and started to make quite a fuss. "He doesn't even know how to fly it!"

Snippy groaned as he was rudely shoved by the disgruntled aviator who rushed up to Captain.

"Why can't I be the one to test-fly Engie's flying cow?" Pilot cried, gesturing with his arms to show them how much he desired it.

"Ugh... I gladly pass my spot to you," the sniper declared disinterestedly as he readjusted his red scarf.

"Really? You would do that?" Pilot gasped, turning to his commander. "Captain, can I?"

Captain stood silently, looking to the sun in deep thought. Both minions waited with bated breath for his response, while Engie lazily leaned against a wall observing the whole fiasco.

"I will let you test-fly it, but only if..." the Captain began, and started to chuckle.

"If what?" Pilot inquired impatiently.

"Only if Snippy will accompany you as co-pilot."

"Never!" the sniper exclaimed.

The seemingly perpetual silence that followed was unbearable for Snippy. He nervously glanced from Captain to Pilot in fear of what might happen next.

"Bwah?" he uttered, and slowly backed away once he realized that Pilot was glaring in his direction.

Within a matter of seconds Pilot lunged at him. Even though Snippy had felt the tension between them, he was still caught off guard by this sudden outburst and could not react fast enough. He slammed to the ground with Pilot on top of him, painfully pressing the air out of his lungs. Snippy tried to gasp for air but the perpetual pressure from Pilot's arm against his throat left him coughing helplessly.

"You _will_ say yes," the crazy, green-eyed man hissed angrily with a stare that would be best described as a stare into one's soul.

Sniper tried to speak but he was unable to even breathe. He then tried to push Pilot off but couldn't do that either as his hands were locked beneath his opponent.

"What are you doing, Pilot?" Captain inquired, sounding a bit confused, but he received no response from his minion.

"Say it, Snipster! Say you will do it!" the aviator yelled at his victim and glared with piercing green eyes, paying no attention to his commander.

From his position on the concrete floor Snippy could see Engie, who was still leaning up against the wall but looking slightly alarmed now.

"_Get him off of me, you apathetic prick_," Sniper wanted to say. If only he wasn't being choked by a raving madman. His burning lungs protested painfully as colorful swirls started to obscure his vision. He hoped that Pilot would soon remember that humans need air to live.

"Pilot, enough of this boobery now!" Captain finally ordered and stepped closer. "I've educated you to better than this!"

Grudgingly, Pilot finally unpinned the completely limp sniper and got up to face his commander. Snippy slowly came to again, coughing and gasping for air.

"You alright, Charles?" Engie asked from his corner with a slight chuckle.

Sniper gave him the death glare, rasping, "Shut the hell up..."

"So, Snippy..." Captain began, clearing his throat. "What do you say to hopping in that plane for a test-flight with Pilot?"

"Hmm... Being killed by Pilot choking me to death for not consenting, or being killed by Pilot flying our airplane into a building... That's a tough decision," Sniper said sarcastically upon sitting up, underlining his chin with his thumb and index finger.

"...So you're gonna do it?" Engie hesitantly asked, flinching when Snippy sharply turned to him.

A moment later he got up from the ground and felt everyone's eyes on him as he patted the dust off of his clothes.

Even though he appeared composed, Snippy was panic-stricken. He had a severe fear of heights, and he knew there would be no way out once he agreed, but he didn't really have a choice.

He knew that Pilot was much faster than him, and even if he did manage to escape that dangerous lunatic, he would search the whole city just to find him and make him suffer the consequences for not complying, in the worst way possible.

Charles gulped at the thought and tried to look at the bright side of it all to ease his mind.

Pilot had flown a few planes in his life before the apocalypse, right? Maybe he would actually succeed at piloting this flying machine and take him far away and out of Captain's reach, at least for a little while...

As he looked up, he noticed that the others hadn't left their spots and continued to stare at him, still waiting for an answer. Snippy held his breath as if he would drown in an ocean of strain if he were to exhale.

"Okay, fine..." the sniper breathed out, and everyone raised their heads expectantly. "I'll do it. Just let me get a few things from the base and we can get going."

Pilot jumped into the air and cheered aloud, but Sniper could already feel his doom manifesting.

Of course the crazy man watched his co-pilot like a hawk as he prepared for flight, tracing each item he stuffed into his backpack with those big green lenses. Snippy then loaded a full ammo clip into his new handgun and secured it in the holster on his belt.

Just a moment later, Captain burst into the room.

"Mein sexy minions! Your Captain can no longer wait to see it happen! Let's get the flying machine to the runway!" Captain announced loudly, and motioned Snippy and Pilot to follow him back into the maintenance hangar.

With united strength the two of them moved the airplane, slowly taking it outbound while Captain ran to hold the gate open.

"Good luck with the flight, Charles," Engie commented as he walked on by without helping. Snippy didn't even bother to look his way.

It was all his fault. If he hadn't agreed to build the machine, then Snippy wouldn't have to go on this treacherous mission.

As the wheels came to a halt, Pilot jumped right into the front seat of the flying machine.

"What are you waiting for, Mr. Snippy?" Captain questioned. "Hop in, so Pilot can take you to paradise!"

"Paradise, huh..." he snarled in frustration.

He tried to relax his tense shoulders a bit, took a deep breath and checked his gun holster one last time, then he climbed into the back seat.

The motors started, sending low vibrations through the seat backs. Snippy grabbed onto anything he could as the plane started moving towards the runway. Then it stopped and idled before a long empty stretch of asphalt.

Over the rattling sound of the motors Snippy could hear Captain cheering at Pilot. He felt seriously befuddled as he spotted their leader on the sidelines, waving a tissue like a woman who waved her man goodbye as he left for war.

They started to move again and the motors roared as the machine gained speed to go into a run-up.

In blank despair from the thought of crashing into wrecked cars, a wall or getting tangled up in fallen wires, Snippy closed his eyes and ducked. It didn't help that this was the first flight of his life. His heart was beating so fast that he feared it would give out at any minute.

But then the rumbling stopped and in the very moment of takeoff, gravity collapsed around them. A strangely soothing feeling of weightlessness embraced Snippy, erasing all of his fears.

"Mr. Snippy, look! We're in the air!" Pilot yelled from the cockpit.

The sniper dared to open his eyes and cautiously leaned over the edge of the flying machine to have a look. From the first moment on he was stunned by the view of the city from above, in disbelief that this was really happening. After a while he perceived that flying wasn't so bad after all, and Pilot really seemed to be adept in what he was doing.

Much to Snippy's surprise, he actually felt relaxed. Though as they soared higher and higher, doubts started to plague his mind.

"Hey Pilot..." Snippy leaned forth to ask. "Did the Captain mention any place we're supposed to go?"

"Don't you understand? We are going to paradise!" the Pilot yelled back, and the flying machine faltered for a moment.

Snippy felt uneasy about it now and tried to extinguish his anxiety by talking things over with Pilot.

"As far as I know we are only supposed to test-fly it," the sniper said.

Pilot brought the flying machine higher up, leaving the rooftops far below them and steered into a massive gray cloud. Right then Snippy felt especially grateful to have a respirator strapped to his face.

"Test flying means more than just carrying off a good start into the air," Pilot replied calmly.

"...What?"

As they emerged from the suffocating body of the dark cloud, they were greeted with a burst of light. Snippy was temporarily blinded and pressed his sensitive blue eyes shut.

Seconds later he slowly opened them again and gasped. A vibrant blue expanse above and a sea of clouds below; the sky as he had never seen it before and thought he never would in his life. For years such a sight was merely an object of his dreams, but that moment was here now and it was real. Pacified by the majestic atmosphere, Snippy was speechless, and certain that Pilot was having the time of his life.

"Lean back and enjoy the view. We're going to be in the air for a while," was all the aviator had to say, and Snippy didn't ask for a more detailed explanation this time.

Instead he remained silent and watched the clouds pass by below them while listening to the constant buzz of the engines, unaware of the slight difference in their sound pattern that would soon become clearly audible.

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**_Thanks for reading, comment and fav it if you liked it, share if you really liked it... and the next chapter is already on the way!_**


	2. Technical Malfunction

**_Thanks to Creepiest for proof-reading and corrections :) *hug*_  
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**Chapter 2: Technical Malfunction  
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With a black mug of hot cocoa in his hand, Dr. Alexander Gromov sat on his bed, his respirator and mask resting on a nearby desk. He felt terribly exhausted but content, feeding on the satisfaction of having successfully finished the flying machine. Working day and night for the past few days had strained him to no end, and even though he'd had a full night sleep, his head ached horribly. But he would finally get some time to relax now. With a sigh he ran his hands over his face, wiping away any excess weariness.

Snippy and Pilot weren't around and the engineer felt glad about their absence, welcoming every second of soothing silence that came as a result of nobody arguing in the background about every little thing.

As he had finished his cocoa, he set the mug down, got up from the bed and stretched his back with a pleasant groan, hearing his joints crack.

"Uh... what time is it now anyway?" he sleepily asked himself as he glanced at the lazy sun that shone through the dark clouds.

He was about to take a look at the old, wind-up pocket watch he had scavenged a while ago, until he realized that it wasn't in his pocket anymore.

"What the- Where is it...?"

He looked around, hoping that he had just left it somewhere nearby, but couldn't find it.

It occurred to him that the tiny watch could still be lying in the hangar, so he quickly strapped his face gear back on and stepped outside the door.

The area was as dead as it could possibly be. For once there was no one around to bother him; not even the Captain. It sure was a beautiful day today.

Back in the hangar, that was still a huge mess from days of working on the airplane, Engie started looking for his silver pocket watch.

Stuff lay scattered on the floor and all around the desks by the walls, but Gromov's had ways to keep survey over it all. He was accustomed to keep all the parts he needed for a project in transparent plastic bags that he had carefully labeled with a marker.

With a quick motion the scientist swiped piles of empty bags off the work bench, hoping to find his watch underneath. Like bird feathers they danced through the air, but only a few bolts, a plastic bag and some random junk clattered to the floor.

_A filled plastic bag, _Engie realized with fright.

Hastily he picked it up to take a look inside. Empty bags of nylon fell down all around him like giant snow flakes as he stood in the center, rooted from shock.

"Right engine upper left side bolts..." he quietly read from the label on the bag in his hands, twisting the bolts between his nervous fingers.

"...Crap."

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The airplane whooshed as Pilot started flying sharp curves across the sky, and Snippy could already feel his breakfast making its way up his throat.

"Stop it Pilot, please!" he pleaded, clinging to his seat like a frightened cat.

"Haha no... This is way too much fun!" the aviator yelled happily, yanking the machine around.

As Pilot flew another loop, the sniper felt something small fling up past his arm, falling down and disappearing into the sea of clouds below.

As he realized what had just gone missing from his holster, rage boiled up inside him.

"That was my gun that just fell down into the clouds, you idiot! All because you wouldn't stop doing stupid stunts, my only goddamn weapon is gone now!"

The madman behind the yoke just chuckled at the sniper's ranting. He knew that he wouldn't dare touch him up here, so all he had to do was ignore him until the man would finally get tired of wasting his breath.

Pilot was in his element here, and he was ready to attempt another daring feat... until he noticed a perilous rattling noise that got him to stop in his actions. Something was not right here – that slight dissonance between both engines had already caught his attention while doing stunts before. But as the flying machine suddenly stuttered, Pilot hastily started looking for the cause.

"What was that?!" the sniper cried fearfully, clinging firmly to his seat.

"I don't know!" the aviator replied while searching for a way to fix this problem.

On top of that he had to fight with the steering that had suddenly started to pull to one side.

The machine flew a wonky line, and Snippy guessed that Pilot had trouble keeping it steady. With no doubt they were losing height, and he didn't exactly feel fond of that.

"See, I told you to stop, but you wouldn't listen, and now you broke it!" Charles ranted, panic rising up in him.

"Shut up Snipster! It's not my fault, maybe you just weigh too much!" he mocked in return.

"What? You were pushing the machine to its limits! What if one of the wings is gonna break off?" Snippy yelled, glancing at the steel wings.

In that moment he caught a glimpse of movement to his right, accompanied by a clattering noise. He couldn't see the engine from his seat, but he figured that something must have either gotten into it, or a part came loose.

"I think we have a problem with the right engine," he managed to shout.

"It's not supposed to do this!" Pilot cried helplessly, still fighting to control it as the machine drew a sharp curve to the right.

Snippy caught a glimpse of parts coming off from the right wing, before the plane jerked under a fatal explosion. From that moment on all hell broke loose around them.

"The engine is on fire!" Snippy cried, helplessly watching it burn and emit sparks as the environment changed around them.

The machine started flying circles, but as Pilot managed to win over the control, the curves slowly became wider and more steady again. Nonetheless, the damaged right engine kept pulling them to one direction.

They plunged into the dark cloud, and its moisture seemed to have a cooling effect on their problem. The flames slowly diminished, until the last spark faded and the engine left nothing but a trail of black smoke behind in the air.

"We are going to fall from the sky if the engine stops working or comes off!" Snippy yelped, panic stricken. "You have to safely get us back down to the ground somehow!"

"It's not that easy!" the aviator yelled, sweating hands trembling in agitation.

They descended from the thick layer of clouds, back to the world they knew – though this place looked nothing like the city they called home. In fact, there were no buildings to be seen here at all. Only a charred land with rocks, mountains, dead forests and small groups of houses scattered few and far between. It was completely foreign to them.

"Where the hell did you take us..." Snippy asked under his breath, doubtful that he would ever get back to his city again should he survive this plane crash.

Pilot tried to accommodate the left engine to the broken right one in order to fly a straighter line, even if it made them come down even faster.

"Prepare for a rough landing," he informed Snippy, before steering towards the forest.

The airplane faltered wildly, and trying to control it started to feel like riding a bull.

"Watch out, Pilot!" Snippy yelled as the plane headed towards a crag.

In the nick of time Pilot jerked the steering to cut a curve around it, but the next moment he lost the last bit of control he still had over the machine up to that point. They were roughly thirty meters above the forest as the damaged right engine died and dragged them down by one side. The plane spun in the air, and the terrified sniper lost record over what was up and what was down, his heart racing to no end.

The machine went through intense buckling as it touched the tree tops, and a noise of thunder jolted through their bodies as the machine was jerked around violently, finally sending its passengers flying through the air along with countless splitters, bars and parts. Snippy was free falling as an engine hit a tree and exploded in a bright light. That was the last thing Snippy could perceive before the world around him went black.

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Dr. Gromov dashed out of the building, making his way back to the base with some batteries firmly grasped in hand. The moment he hurried through the open door, Captain happened to be standing in his way and the engineer crashed right into him, sending them both tumbling down onro the carpet.

Jumping up in sheer embarrassment, Gromov apologized what seemed like a hundred times, before Captain could even speak up.

"How many times have I told you? No running inside the house!" Captain scolded, getting up and adjusting his hat.

"I'm sorry, I'm so terribly sorry... It's all my fault..." the engineer spluttered agitatedly and dropped to his knees.

"Well, it sure is! You ran straight into me while I was innocently standing in the hallway observing a painting!"

"No, it's something else... something much worse... I don't know where to start... it's complicated."

"What happened?" Captain inquired now. "Speak up, mein minion. Pour out your heart to your Captain."

Not knowing how to put it in words, Alexander Gromov brought his hands up to his head in despair.

"Is there something you are keeping secret from me, Mr. Engie?"

"The airplane, it is- I think there is... a small problem- the engines... one is- ugh..." he kept babbling as the words got stuck in his throat.

As if an idea had suddenly struck his head, he jumped up and rushed past Captain.

"Hey! No running away while I'm talking to you!" the Captain called after him.

Finally he found the scientist rummaging through a drawer in the room they had declared 'Engie's bedroom'. Promptly the commander paced over to him, stopped by his side and cleared his throat.

"Mr. Engie, I want you to tell me what happened. Now!" he sternly admonished him.

"I... I can't!" Alexander cried, and continued hastily digging through the drawers.

"Do not test my patience! Now tell me what is wrong with the flying machine!" he urged. "I don't want any more secrets kept from me!"

"I... made a terrible mistake," Dr. Gromov muttered in shame.

Fear of the punishment that Captain might deliver hindered him from speaking. But the commander was waiting for an explanation, and Alexander knew that his punishment would be far worse if he didn't confess now.

"What is it that you did?" Captain pushed him furthermore.

"I... messed up on something as I built it. There is a engine that is partially loose, and now the others are out there, flying a plane that is condemned to crash!" he cried.

Now that it was out, his agitation was at the verge, and Captain falling silent didn't help.

An unbearable tension clogged the air, but lastly it dissolved once the engineer finally held in his hand what he'd been looking for: a square little device with a big screen, a few buttons and an antenna.

He placed it on the drawer, unhinged the back cover and pushed the batteries inside. Then he hurried outside, the Captain at his heels. Curiously the tall man peered over Engie's shoulder, trying to find out what he was doing with this strange device.

"Care to tell me what this fancy looking toy you've got there does?"

"It's a GPS. I originally modified it for Pilot a while ago, because he told me that his monster worm runs away on a regular basis and that he wants to know where she goes. This device could track her down if she wears the counterpart: a tiny, red blinking gizmo," he explained. "But Pilot eventually forgot about it, and I certainly wasn't gonna remind him... So we never attached it to the monster worm. Instead I integrated this blinking gizmo into our airplane. That means we might be able to track them with this."

An interface opened up, and after Engie pressed a few buttons, a red dot blinked up on the screen.

"I think I found them. This red dot that is slowly moving over the screen shows us their current position. They laid back quite some distance..."

"Why did the dot stop moving?" Captain noticed.

"What... it stopped? They're not supposed to stop there..."

The engineer was fazed, aware that this was not a good sign at all. Hoping that it was only the screen that froze due to an error, he slightly shook the device, but that didn't help. The red dot continued blinking in the same position as before.

A cold shiver ran down Gromov's back. A thousand thoughts shot through his head, all leading to the same conclusion.

"I think they crashed."

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Snippy woke up on the cold terrain, opened his eyes widely and gasped. In utter confusion he hastily looked around, but all he could perceive were blurred, dark colors and shapes; even after blinking several times. A sharp pain manifested itself in his midsection as he tried to move, and his breaths became more shallow and cautious.

As he tried to remember how he had even gotten here, the terrifying memories slowly began to recoil in his head. Sniper remembered how they steered towards the forest, but couldn't quite recall what had happened after, and figured that the machine must have collided with the trees. So there he lay now, stranded somewhere in a forest far away from the city he called home. On top of that he was stuck with a madman and he had no idea where the screwball even was.

Aside from the soothing, low crackling sound of burning branches, the forest was rather silent, but the sniper perceived another sound in the air. Soft whimpering noises, sounding like they were coming from someone sobbing somewhere nearby.

"Pilot?" He asked, but his voice only came out hoarsely.

Receiving no reply, the sniper thought that he should go check after his fellow.

At one go he tried to sit up, but it only caused his midsection to start throbbing painfully, forcing him back down.

With a ridiculously enormous effort he managed to shakily lift his arm and ran it over his abdomen where it bumped against something hard and sharp-edged that protruded from him, emitting a pulsating pain. His vision had merely recovered enough to make out the blood on his hand.

And if that wasn't enough, he felt his stomach suddenly churn and quickly yanked down his respirator before retching it all out in a gut-wrenching coughing fit.

"Goddamn it..." he uttered with a trembling whisper.

Tensing up his whole body had weakened him, and he felt like he was on the verge to pass out again, but with deep breaths he fought to stay awake, which was a lot easier now that his mask was down.

"Why... Oh, for fucks sake, why do I keep agreeing to do stupid things..." he quietly muttered to himself. "I should have never gone on this test-flight."

As far as he knew it would take a while to bleed out and die from an abdominal wound, but that wasn't even the worst thing. The crash must have allured the whole forest. Soon, lots of vile creatures would come to the crash site. Being eaten alive didn't seem like the best way to die, and he knew that his chances of surviving wouldn't be very high if he couldn't get back to his feet soon.

"Having a bad day, Charles?" a strange voice talked to him, startling him mercilessly.

Fearfully he glanced around, but stopped as it suddenly became clear to him. He knew that voice - how could he have forgotten? The mighty biomass, the manifestation of a nightmarish fiend that used to feast on organic life, now reduced to a puny, fleshy red fashion accessory.

Snippy could remember the moment when he had first touched it in the Arbitrator's shell. It had wrapped itself around his arm and neck like an aggressive snake, started boring through his skin and extending itself in his body, invading Snippy's spine and binding itself to his flesh. An alien parasite that had taken over his cells like a virus, though it was more than just that. It possessed demonic powers it was ready to share with him, built up on the condition and hope that Snippy would one day kill the Captain.

"What's the matter, Biomatrix...?" Charles uttered in a weak hiss. "I'm still alive, but... I can't get up. There is a hole in my stomach, and... it hurts an awful lot," he paused for a moment, looking down at the bloodied steel bar. "You have to fix me... I know you have control over my cells and can do that. Put me back together, like you did before... And we'll get away from this place."

The red scarf manifested a skull head at its end that stared down at him with glaring red eyes. Then it uttered a demonic laugh.

"It will never cease to amuse me how fragile you human beings are. But fear not, dear Charles, we will reassemble your body soon enough. In fact we already started way before you woke up. You had several bone fractures in various parts of your body," it explained. "But you didn't feel any of it, because we activated and drastically increased the production of endorphin in your body to numb your physical pain. As a side effect you might feel a... slight form of nausea or dizziness."

"Why did you stop?"

"You weren't awake, and we need you to be in order to continue the procedure. I'm not entirely sure, but I doubt that you really want to live with a steel bar of five centimeters in diameter in your abdomen, so I recommend you remove it first. That is something we can't do for you."

"You've got to be kidding me..." the injured man hissed irritatedly, hardly believing in the sobriety of the alien's words.

"Relax, Charles. We will give you the required strength to pull that bar out of yourself, so we can proceed by reassembling your shredded muscle tissue and organs. Are you ready?"

There was no such thing as being ready to pull a steel bar out of oneself, but Sniper gave the biomatrix a quick "Yes" before he placed his hands around the object and grabbed it as tightly as he could.

"We numbed the area for you, so this is probably not going to hurt at all," the red deer skull at the end of his scarf told him.

Noting that, Snippy put all his force into what he was about to do. He mentally counted to three, before he pulled the bar out of his abdomen in one go. In that moment such an overwhelming wave of intense pain shot through him that he thought he was going to faint. Croaking out curses, he rolled to the side, writhing in pain and pressing his hand on the wound as hard as he could while he heard the Biomatrix chuckle over his painful groans.

"Sorry that I lied," it spoke to him. "If we had actually done that, you wouldn't be able to walk for at least three more hours."

"You could have just informed me about that," the trembling human muttered.

"Why? It was so much more fun to watch this way! On a side note, there was no better method to convince you to do it."

"I hate you so much..." the sniper uttered huskily, glaring at the red skull head that was hovering in front of his face.

"Oh you really shouldn't," it told him in a jovial tone. "Look, your injury is barely a scratch now. And the pain isn't that bad anymore, is it?"

Just as the words were spoken, Snippy sat up surprisingly easy and quickly pulled up his shirt. He could hardly believe his eyes. It really was as the Biomass had said. The gashing wound had been reduced to a narrow cut on his skin, and he could literally watch as it healed over, leaving only a red scar and a dull ache behind.

Even though he'd been reassembled by the biomass before, he'd never gotten the chance to watch that miracle happen, and now that he had he felt quite awestruck.

Feeling as good as new, the sniper got up from the ground - perhaps a bit too quickly. An overwhelming dizziness engulfed him and for a moment he swayed, then his knees gave in and he tumbled to the ground.

"Take it slow, Charles" the scarf told him. "The side effects I mentioned will remain for a little longer."

"I'll keep that in mind," he stuttered.

This time he got up a bit more slowly, using a nearby tree for support and took a deep breathe as he put his gas mask back on.

The Biomatrix had returned to its resting state around his neck, and what had been a glowing red deer skull two minutes ago was now merely a boring red scarf loosely hanging down from his neck.

With squinted eyes the sniper surveyed his environment. It was quite murky here and he could barely see through all the smoke, but he knew that it was early morning when they had taken off, so he tried to find a logical explanation for the darkness. As he looked up, he noticed that this forest was very dense. Then he spotted a hole in the globe of branches above where the machine had crashed through, and realized that it allowed only little light to pass through due to the thick clouds that plagued the sky.

The airplane had shattered the moment he and Pilot crashed into the forest, leaving a mess of burning branches and machine parts laying scattered all around the crash site and lighting up small areas of the dark forest. Snippy noticed a strap jutting out from below some burning branches and pushed them aside with his foot, feeling a smile form on his face as the backpack he'd taken with him earlier was revealed underneath it. Glad about his lucky find, he checked the inside for a bottle of water, took a big gulp and swung the backpack on his back before he moved on.

Amongst the parts and fragments, a red blinking device the size of a watch caught his attention and, curious as he was, he decided to pick it up.

_What could this thing be?_ He wondered as he twiddled it in his hand. Whatever it was, something in the back of his mind told him that it must be important.

A quiet sound caught his attention, and the sniper turned to where it came from. There it was again, that wailing voice he'd heard earlier. Charles let the gizmo glide into the pocket of his jacket and followed the sound to a pile of heavy branches and what looked like one of the wings.


	3. You shoe

_**Test-read by my awesome friend Creep. Iluvm!**_

* * *

**Chapter 3: You shoe  
**

* * *

The noise led Sniper to another pile of broken steel and branches, but something seemed different.

After scrutinizing the mess, all his alarm bells suddenly rang as he spotted an arm sticking out from below the steel wing. Intuitively he started to push a heavy branch off the top, then he proceeded to heave the massive steel wing, revealing a prone form underneath.

"Pilot!"

Snippy dropped the large wing near the aviator and knelt down beside him to search for injuries, fearing the worst. After coughing a few times, Pilot shifted slowly and groaned.

"Hey man, are you alright?" Charles checked with his comrade, and helped him turn over so he could sit against the side of the wing.

"My leg... It hurts so much... and my left shoulder is- aaauugh!" the aviator suddenly cried.

It seemed that Snippy had touched a sore spot in his ministrations, and instantly pulled his hand back by reaction. Pilot didn't stop clutching his hurting arm.

"It feels like it's gonna fall off... I don't want my arm to fall off!" he whimpered, trembling with every heavy breath.

"It won't, and I think I might be able to fix your shoulder. In fact I'm very positive about it. But let me take a look at your leg first."

"Don't touch it!" Pilot warned him and flinched in fear of more pain.

"Just let me take a look at it," Charles suggested in a slow, soothing tone. "I promise, I won't touch anything. I just want to see how bad it is... Is that okay?"

The flames flickered around them, covering the two of them in a soft orange. In that moment Snippy realized that the clothes of his fellow survivor were completely scratched up, and so was his face gear.

"...Okay," Pilot finally uttered, and gulped. "But if you dare to touch me, I swear I'll punch you in the face."

For a second Snippy froze, though he shook it off with a smirk, realizing that by all means he couldn't find Pilot very intimidating right now.

What little light they had allowed him to see a red shimmer on Pilot's left leg, but as the flames around them flared up a bit brighter for a second, they revealed some very ugly, deep gashes in the side of his tight. Luckily they weren't bleeding too much, but the wounds would need stitches, Snippy was certain of that. He would have to treat them soon, because they were literally waiting to become infected.

"We'll have to take care of these," he told him, and stood up. "But before we can start I'm gonna need some more light. I won't be gone for long, so be good and don't touch your leg until I'm back, okay?"

Pilot nodded and looked after his fellow as he left to collect some of the scattered wood in order to make a little campfire.

Snippy should have been thinking about how he would patch up his injured crew mate, but he had an idea that might work even better. After making sure he was out of hearing range, he tugged on his scarf, repeatedly whispering "Wake up!"

Red dots glowed up all over the dark red tissue of the alien's body.

"Okay Biomatrix, I'm gonna have to ask you for one more favor," the sniper muttered quietly.

"No," the voice said flatly.

"What? I didn't even-"

"I know. I can read your mind," the alien explained. "You want me to fix your fellow. And no, I won't."

"Please... You have to heal him, like you did with me!" Snippy pleaded.

"I most certainly didn't do it because I like you. You know the reason for my actions very well," the Biomatrix reasoned, and as it continued speaking, Snippy felt all his hopes sink. "I trust I don't have to remind you of our agreement. Healing the unit that is highly obsessed with protecting my target, 'Zee Captain', would have a very counter-productive effect on our current state of progress, don't you think?"

Charles remained silent. By now he felt a deep emptiness inside, as if a big patch of his soul had been ripped out. How could he have been so naive, thinking that Cancer would actually agree to help? Firmly he grabbed the scarf with both hands, staring down at it and gritted his teeth in frustration. He wanted to choke it; tear it off himself, but he knew that wasn't possible.

"I highly advise against trying to get rid of me by force, as I am still connected to your spine. It would be very painful for you, with death as a highly likely side effect," the demonic head reminded him.

"You know what... I don't give a fuck," Snippy snorted. "I'll patch Pilot back up, regardless if you help or not, and we'll get on the way and we will make it back together. He will see Captain again. And do you know why?" he uttered, grabbing the biomatrix by its 'neck'. "I'm not letting people die if I still have the possibility to save them... no matter if I like them or not!"

"You are a fool, Charles," the red deer skull laughed, fierce red eyes staring down at him. "One day you will get to see the consequences for your unwise actions."

Fed up with the Biomatrix' bollocks, Snippy simply didn't want to respond anymore. Hoping that it would eventually shut up, he continued collecting wood, trying hard to ignore the voice that kept talking to him in his head.

"There is no point in taking him with you. He will only slow you down," the now loose scarf uttered.

The sniper remained silent and continued doing his job, unperturbed by the alien's attempts to budge him.

"I think you should kill him. Having double your current organs could bring you so much closer to reaching your goals."

The mere thought of killing an injured crew member appalled Snippy, even if it's the one he probably hated most.

* * *

"Hmm..." Captain grumbled. "My minions have been away for quite a long time now. I wonder what is taking them so long to return to their sexy Captain?"

Dr. Gromov sighed, unsure about the Captain's mental capability of understanding the ramifications of a plane crash.

"Captain... it is highly presumable that their airplane crashed," he explained slowly and paused. "Do you know what happens to people who are involved in a plane crash?"

The commander ran his hand over where his chin would be under his respirator mask and pondered for a while, finally shrugging his shoulders.

"They die," the scientist said flatly. "Or they get hurt so badly that they eventually succumb to their injuries, or worse: they get eaten by mutated animals."

The horrific mental images visibly sent shivers down Engie's spine.

"But they're probably already dead by now, anyways," he added in mutters, shook his head and looked down in regret. "There is no hope for them now, and I don't think they will ever return to us again."

Captain was quiet, and Engie tried to figure him out from the corner of his eye.

"Oh... If it is true, that's a real bummer," the commander said sadly. "Looks like I'm gonna have to send you on Snippy's and Pilot's missions from now on, then. But I guess that won't be a problem. I'm sure you can handle them just fine. Right, Mr. Engie?"

"W-w-what...?!" the scientist stuttered with surprise and felt a sweat drop run down his forehead. "No! Y-you misunderstood me! They are, uhm... There's a high chance that they are still alive!"

"What was that?" Captain smirked, positioning his flat hand behind his ear. "Is that optimism that I'm hearing?"

"We... We have to get them back!" Alexander shouted, clenching his hands to fists. "Absolutely no matter the cost!"

"Yes! That's the spirit!" the taller man chuckled and pulled the engineer along. "Now let's get to work, mein juicy minion! We need to find the most trendy and economical way of transport the world has ever seen! And I've already got an idea."

* * *

On his way to pick up another branch, Snippy was startled awake from his thoughts by a scream in the distance.

"Damn it, Pilot..." he uttered as he recognized the man's voice, and started running.

Picturing the worst possible scenarios in his mind, Snippy hurried back to the broken wing, dropped the firewood once he reached it and hastily scanned the area for his fellow. Worries plagued him as he was nowhere in sight, but then he spotted the tip of Pilot's boot pointing out from a niche in the debris. Sighing with relief, the sniper shortly glanced around to make sure the area was clear before approaching him.

Snippy noticed that Pilot was completely churned up and trembling from head to toe. He was just laying there on the ground, curled up to a ball and protectively covering his head with his right arm, making the impression of a person who had just seen a ghost.

Without a word, the puzzled sniper knelt down beside his crew mate and descended his hand on the aviator's shoulder. However, he wasn't expecting the hell of a reaction he was about to receive. It seemed like the touch came so sudden that it put the pilot into a state of sheer panic and caused him to immediately jerk away from the sniper. Without even looking, he started trashing around, until Snippy gained the upper hand, pinned him to the ground with his leg and at last got hold of the man's wrist.

"Calm down Pilot, it's just me!" the blue eyed man enlightened him, which finally got the screwball to stop flailing.

Only after hearing the familiar voice, the confused man finally dared to lift his head and blankly stared at his fellow survivor.

"...Are you alright?" the sniper inquired upon getting no response from him.

"Snippy...! It is you! For a moment I thought you were one of those creepy monsters that just passed by!" Pilot uttered nervously, completely ignoring his question.

The sniper helped him sit up against the wing and descended beside him.

"What monsters?" he wanted to know, raising an eyebrow.

"Those terrifying snake shark thingies with lots of teeth and scaly thorns all over their bodies! One of them even tried to eat me, but I kicked it in the face and it ran away."

"I've never seen anything like that before. Are you sure you're not talking about some sort of crawler worms, like Photoshop?"

"Hell, no! They aren't anywhere near as cute as my little baby worm! How dare you compare those... monstrosities with her!" Pilot spluttered, giving him an angry look through his green goggles.

"Oh calm down, I didn't mean to offend you!" the now pissed sniper snorted and got up.

There was work to be done, and Snippy continued by collecting the firewood he'd dropped before, stacking them up nicely within a circle of stones. Pilot watched interestedly as his fellow built a small campfire in front of him and lit it with one of the many burning branches that lay scattered all around them.

"This is a lot better," said the man with the vibrant blue eyes, proud about his work.

Then he swung the backpack off his shoulder, rested it against the steel wing and squat down beside Pilot.

"So... let's start by fixing your shoulder, shall we? From what you told me it looks like you dislocated it," the ex tour guide explained. "I never had a chance to try this before, but I know how to reset it."

"Is it... going to hurt?"

"Only for short. You'll barely register it," Snippy lied. "Turn your back to me."

This was the first time the green eyed aviator ever had to undergo this sort of treatment, so he had no idea what to expect. He was scared... but Snippy said that he could fix his shoulder, and he felt like he should trust the shoe because he was the only one around who was probably able to help him. And so Pilot did as he was told.

"Do you want to hear a story about the funniest thing Captain ever did while I was traveling with him?" Charles asked him, and instantly got his full attention.

"Oh yes, tell me! What did he do?" Pilot inquired, allowing Snippy to get hold of his terribly hurting shoulder.

"Well..." the tour guide began, and readied himself. "We were fighting against some really mean alien guys, and one of them was exceptionally rude. So Captain took his pants and..." he continued speaking as he relocated Pilot's shoulder with a swift jolt, making the aviator groan in pain. "...and then he used the pants as a parachute."

Behind his mask Pilot contorted his face, and tightly held his smarting arm for a moment.

"How does it feel now?" the sniper curiously asked him from the side.

"You... you shoe! You tricked me!" Pilot shouted at his blue-eyed sly fellow and gave him an angry glare, but the man didn't seem to be bothered by it.

"Quite frankly, I did," Charles Snippy confessed. "But the idea was to distract you from the pain."

Upon that, Pilot loosened his grasp, lifted his arm carefully and slowly brought it back down on his lap, looking at it in such amazement as if he'd never seen it before.

After a moment of silence, he spoke in a low murmur. "It seems like my arm is working again. Still hurts a lot, though."

"It will go away," the sniper just said flatly, produced a bottle of water from his backpack and took a big gulp. "So... 'You ready for the leg, or do you need a break?"

Pilot sighed, started to take his gas mask off and finally wiped the sweat from his forehead. The cold air felt refreshing against his damp skin.

"Can I... have a swig from your water first?" he uttered under his breath, looking up at his fellow survivor from his hunched position.

"Sure," Snippy chuckled, and handed him the bottle.


	4. Hostile interference

_**Credits to Creep for test-reading!**_

* * *

**Chapter 4: Hostile interference**

* * *

Snippy produced a small medic kit from his backpack and set it down on the ground, while Pilot carefully observed his every move.

"So glad I always take one of these with me," the sniper commented as he opened it and took a pair of small scissors from it.

As he brought them to Pilot's leg, the man flinched back and made a futile attempt to move away from it.

"What are you doing?!" the screwball yelled and cowered in fear.

Ignoring his antics, Snippy moved closer to him, underestimated his patient's fear and almost received a kick in the face.

"Are you completely out of your mind!? Stop it!" he shouted at the idiot.

Sighing audibly, the sniper tried to calm his temper.

"I just need to cut through the cloth so I can treat your leg. Just hold still for a moment, okay? I don't want to accidentally hurt you with these scissors because you couldn't contain yourself."

Pilot gave no response, but he also stopped trying to fight his helper off and allowed him to do what ever he must.

This time Snippy double checked that his patient was calm before he dared to begin anew. With the small scissors he easily cut through the fabric and instantly got a better look at the severe wounds. As Pilot looked down at the torn flesh, Charles saw him cringe at the sight and a short time later he started to cry in blank despair.

"My leg... it's destroyed! I will never be able to walk again..." he whimpered with a trembling voice.

"Don't worry... It's really not as bad as it looks. It will heal, and soon you will jump around like a deer again," Charles ensured him.

After hearing that, the aviator fell silent. Either he was in shock, or Snippy's soothing attempts were effective for once. But that was less likely the case, he thought, and sighed.

"I'll have to clean and sterilize these first," the sniper explained shortly, and grabbed the bottle of water. "You're going to need stitches. Maybe I can-"

A distorted cry came from the depths of the forest, followed by another one coming from somewhere much closer to where the two survivors sat. Pilot winced at the disturbing sounds, and his breathing quickened.

"Goddamn it... If those beasts are coming our way, we won't have enough time. Keep an eye on the forest, Pilot," Snippy told his fellow survivor in a hushed tone. "I'll clean your wounds like I said, but then we will have to move. They will probably be here soon... If you see something coming our way, warn me as soon as possible."

Nervously the ex tour-guide glanced around. Amongst a bunch of metal and bolts not far from him, he spotted a sharp steel bar stuck in the ground. In his mind he pictured himself moving over to pick it up and ward off anything that would try to attack them.

"What are you waiting for, Snippy?" Pilot urged him, waking him from his thoughts.

"Nothing. Get ready, I'm going to start now," he spluttered while he opened the lid of the bottle and took his gloves off.

Then he moderately began pouring water on the injured tissue, carefully washing away the blood and dirt from the skin with his hand. All his fellow survivor gave out was a moan of pain every now and then, and the sniper hurried to get the job done as soon as possible.

The smell of blood and the lights from the spreading fire must have allured these hungry creatures, and he most certainly didn't want to wait for them to come, as he had no weapons to defend himself and Pilot. Snippy knew that it would be the best to Pilot away from here and find a safer place, the sooner the better.

After he was done thoroughly cleaning the wounds, he stored the water away, grabbed the antiseptic from the kit and thoughtfully sprayed the injured leg. The other survivor whimpered from pain, but Snippy didn't let compassion distract him now.

Then the loan medic started wrapping a provisional bandage around the leg, which should mostly serve for keeping the wounds clean. His patient seemed to grow more silent the longer Snippy worked. For a while he didn't utter any sound at all.

"Done... for now," the blue-eyed sniper finally announced.

Neatly he applied a hook to keep the bandage in place, before he looked up and felt his heart jump upon noticing that Pilot was completely still.

"Pilot?" Snippy asked and shook him by the shoulder, but the man gave no response. "Shit... Wake up, man! We need to mo-"

He was cut off as something heavy rammed him from the side. Snippy hit the ground face first, and something pinned him down with its weight. He had to cough as his lungs were painfully compressed by its weight.

With a jolt the sniper rolled over and the creature fell off him, but the thing didn't leave him enough time to escape. Promptly it reached for Snippy's leg and gave it a jerk to make him fall over again. Before the human could even think about getting up, the beast jumped right back onto his chest and snarled, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth centimeters away from the sniper's face. Only grabbing it by its neck with both hands prevented him from having his throat ripped open by the heavy creature that vaguely reminded him of an oversized wolf.

The blue-eyed man looked for something he could grab and use as a weapon, but the steel bar he'd seen earlier lay far out of range. From the same direction he saw more of the beast's pack arriving at the scene, slowly trotting towards him. It didn't take long before they spotted Pilot, and curiously started sniffing on his leg.

"NO!" Snippy screamed from the bottom of his lungs, and the pack instantly looked his way.

In that moment Pilot woke up and flinched at the sight of the snarling creatures surrounding him. At the split of a second the sniper didn't pay attention and almost let the beast on top of his chest gain the upper hand. Furiously it snapped at his face, but he promptly pushed it away from himself with all he'd got. Charles felt the muscles in his arms burn from exertion, and he knew that he couldn't keep this up for much longer. Saliva was dripping from the edges of the beast's jaws onto him as he kept up his vain struggle, driven by the sole will to survive.

Not far from him, Pilot releasing a horrible, agonized scream. For a second the monster pinning Snippy to the ground looked away, giving him the perfect chance to push it off. Awkwardly it stumbled away and seemed disoriented for a moment, while the human deftly rolled over and pushed himself off the ground.

Back on his feet again, he made a run for the steel bar, the beast already in hot pursuit of him. In the run he yanked the bar out of the ground and spun around just to see a glimpse of the dire wolf pouncing on him, pinning him down under its weight anew.

For a moment he wrestled with it, then he smacked the bar to its big head with a clang and the predator was dazed for a moment. With a final precise move, Charles stabbed it through the side of its throat and pushed the monster off him.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he could feel his heart racing. Ignoring his fatigue he got up and gasped for air, still trembling from the heat of battle. Curling up on the ground in a spasm, the beast was choking with gurgling sounds and Snippy watched as it died in a puddle of blood.

After a short pause he retrieved the bar and glanced around, hoping that it wasn't too late to still save his fellow. As soon as he spotted Pilot, he noticed that he'd been doing a pretty good job warding the mutated wolves off.

He had armed himself with his belt and kept one beast on safe distance, using the long belt like a whip. Another one lay on the ground clutching its eye – Pilot probably landed an effective hit there. The third one circled him, intimidated by the long range 'weapon' and probably waiting for a chance to attack without getting hurt.

Without hesitation Snippy grabbed his steel bar tighter and charged them, strategies already forming in his mind. With a swift kick he smacked the one closest to his fellow in the jaw and sent it tumbling over with a yelp, while the other two flinched back in fear.

"Stay away from him, you monsters!" Snippy yelled, brandishing his steel bar about to force them back.

However, his attempts to intimidate them seemed to leave the beasts rather unimpressed. Instead of feeling threatened, they regrouped and tentatively came closer, then they started circling him, waiting just for the right moment to tear him to shreds.

_Come on Charles, think! There's got to be a way out of this, _he thought while keeping a wary eye on the beasts. _How did I beat the last one?_

Putting his hand into his pocket, he got hold of the small gizmo he'd picked up earlier. Carefully he took it out and held it up in the air, happily noticing that he managed to pull the beast's attention to the red blinking device.

_So far so good,_ he thought to himself, before he threw the bait in hopes to lure the monsters after it.

However, only one of the beasts fell for the trick and chased after it, while the other two started angrily snarling at the human. This didn't go as planned at all, but time was too short to forge a new plan. Snippy knew he would have to make his move now, because it seemed the beasts started to grow impatient. For a second he lost sight of one and warily glanced around. Fear packed him as he spotted the mutated wolf again, making a dash towards him.

Before it could pounce on him he dodged to the side and felt a moment of triumph, until the other beast deceitfully jumped out of the shadows a second later and pushed him over.

As he hit the ground his gas mask was torn down from his face, but that was the least of his concerns right now. Rolling over to face the monsters, Snippy rose his metal bar in defense as the beast went in for an attack and started gnawing at the bar in its way, while the other one got hold of his arm and opened its jaw wide. Charles cringed at the thought of what was about to happen and tried to roll over, but the weight on him was too heavy and for a moment he felt completely trapped, unable to even move a single limb; and then the inevitable happened.

Searing pain shot up from his left arm as the beast's teeth bore into his flesh and started tearing on it. His agonized screams of terror filled the air, drowning out every rational thought.

The helpless human could only catch a glimpse of his arm getting torn to shreds, before he closed his eyes. His head was a mess, and all he could think of was that he just wanted the pain to stop.

His body tingled, a cold chill running through his limbs.

A_ state of shock, _he thought.

Then he noticed that everything was silent. What was happening?Did he pass out?

The snarling sounds of the beasts returned, and he saw the familiar colors of the burning environment.

He felt his chest slowly rising, breathing in the smoke filled air, and exhaled. The first things he noticed was a headache and a numb, tingling feeling thorough his whole body.

Cautiously Snippy opened his eyes and blinked. He lay on his back, the beast still on top of him; but something seemed off. Low, pained growls filled the air and only then he realized that his arm was connected with the beast's chest, going all the way through it and emerging from its back. In a timid flow, the wolf's dark blood ran down his arm, mixing up with his own.

By now the beast on top of him had stopped moving, and it looked like something had drained every drop of liquid from its body. Snippy pulled his arm back and wearily pushed the beast off him.

_His arm...! _

A second look at it left him stunned. Where his lower arm once had been, a glowing red pike now protruded from his elbow, reminding him of a fleshy prosthesis. The view made him feel nauseous, and in the moment he thought he would pass out again, a distant snarl startled him back awake. With new energies he pushed himself off the ground, and strangely he had no problems getting back to his feet.

He felt weird. There was a foreign sensation in his legs, and as he gazed down he saw that they had changed as well. Reformed to stilts, their new form extended his size, allowing him a better overview. This was all so bizarre, it was impossible for him to get a single straight thought anymore.

Just like his legs, his arms emitted a completely new sensation that had never been there before. Slowly he rose the fleshy pike, and as he spread his fingers, it split into five red flashing tentacles. His other hand was slowly taking a similar shape as well.

Snippy felt the intensity of this new power that ran through his veins, and for a second he was uncertain if he should welcome or despise it, but seconds later he already regretted even allowing himself such a thought. He should have never let it come to this.

Around him the dire wolves were closing in, and as he closed his eyes his sensitive ears perceived that one was already in the act of charging him.

In that moment Cancer partially took over his body, and Snippy felt his neurons tingle as if electricity was building up inside him, raring to break free.

With a start the wolf beast leaped off the ground, but before it could even get close enough to touch him, the human extended his arm and felt a spike shoot out of it, brutally goring the beast up and extending his veins through the creature's body, leeching the remaining life from it. Intense colors started to fill his vision, colors that he never thought even existed, giving him a sight much sharper than he could ever imagine.

The creature shriveled, and Snippy pulled his arm back, readying himself for his next attack. His nerves tingled from the power running through his new body, and the adrenaline rush made his fingers twitch. With his enhanced vision, he watched as the last remaining member of the pack carefully walked backwards, before the beast made a run for it and disappeared in the dead forest.

Reflecting the recent events, Charles felt it hard to believe what had just happened. Even though it seemed impossible for an unarmed human to get out of such a situation alive, he had just killed three giant wolves with his bare hands, and Pilot was still breathing.

The feeling of triumph however didn't last long, and with deep concern Snippy stared down at his hands, both deformed to terrible instruments. He knew that he was far from looking human anymore, and that thought disturbed him. It felt like he was trapped inside a horrible nightmare, with no chance of waking up.

"Why did you do this to me..." Charles muttered, frowning. "Turn me back... I want you to undo it."

"Are you sure?" the Biomass' voice reverberated inside his head. "This fusion made you a lot more powerful than you were before."

Snippy reflected about his new powers and stared into the distance. His field of vision had never been so extended before, and he didn't even want to know what the Biomass did to his face to achieve this so called upgrade.

As he turned his head to see Pilot and extended his arm towards him, the man on the ground yelped and scooted back from him in utter terror - at least as fast as his injuries allowed him to. This left Snippy with a terrible, empty feeling inside. How disfigured had his appearance become that Pilot was afraid of being near him?

"This is not who I am... I never asked for this!", he yelled at Cancer and felt his voice distort as he rose it. "You shouldn't have done this to my body."

"Your body got mauled. We had to take action before your heart would stop," the Biomatrix explained to the confused human. "Also, you were running short on material for first hand repairs."

The stolen blood pulsated through his veins, making his whole body feel like an electric circuit.

"I can't live like this... The throbbing... Make it stop... please!" Snippy pleaded, holding his aching head.

"I hope you contemplated very well about your decision. You could have been so powerful... Are you sure you really want to return to your former, fragile form? Please consider that you'll probably never get a chance like this again."

"Just turn me back!" Charles pleaded, and knelt down. "Please... I don't want to be a monster..."

"Well then, I guess you will be no use to me if you're an emotional wreck, no matter how powerful your body is. That makes undoing my modifications to our combined interest. However, I would like to inform you that the process of reconstructing your fragile structure isn't easy. Minor complications and the possibility of a permanent mental trauma should be taken into account. Do you conceive and accept?"

"Do whatever must be done," was the last thing this distorted voice uttered that came from his throat.

"Consider that these changes will take a while. We will induce a state of anesthetic sleep for the transformation process in five seconds. Get ready," the Biomass spoke.

Snippy took a deep breath and leaned his head back. As the constant rhythm of the pulsation in his body became faster and started to intensify, he closed his eyes, awaiting what ever was to come. Despite his attempts to calm down, he could hear and feel the beat of his rushing heart in his ears. Suddenly he started feeling light headed.

The electricity inside his body was flowing, fading and returning like ocean waves. A soft prickling manifested itself in his appendages, slowly making its way into his torso and back. Every time it circuited, it intensified and everything seemed alright, until the tingling slowly turned into pain. What was happening? For a while he could handle it, but as the pain extended thorough his body like poison, it started turning into unbearable agony. Short time later the Biomass gave through a rather unsettling, distorted message.

"ErroR 999038- WaRniNg! 11MalFuNcTioN DeTe-CtEd! 2ReStaRt-rEeeeqUir3D! R-R-ReSeTtiNg s-s-SYsTem- PLEaSe wAiT for-"

A buzz inside his head drowned out the rest of the message. What happened after, the distresed human was not certain about, but it felt like his body was pulled through a shredder. At the split of a second, all his senses went numb and shut down.


End file.
